CHE REFERENCE LIBRARY - ZetaTalk

PROPAGATIOIV BY LAYERS AND RUNNERS 73layer also possesses the advantage cf giving more than oneplant, but the roots are likely to form so continuously t.hatdefinite and strong plants are rarely obtained ; these rootedparts may be severed and treated as cuttings, however, withFIG. 63. Carnation layer.good results. The gra,pe is sometimes propagated by serpentinelayering.Stiff and hard-wooded plants do not often “ strike” or rootreadily, and to facilitat,e rooting, t,he branch is wounded atthepoint where it is desired that roots shall form. This woundingserves to induce formation of adventitious buds at thatpoint, and to check. the growth of the branch at the tip. It is acommon practice to cut the branch about half in two, obliquelyon the lower side. This operation is known as “ tongueing.”Twisting, notching, “ ringing ” or girdling, and various othermethods are employed, none of which, perhaps, possesses anypeculiar advantages in general practice. Some propagatorscut all the buds from the covered part. In this case the freeand protruding end of the layer is expected to form the top of